Don Wildman

May 10th, 100,000 American citizens demonstrate in front of the White House.

I mean, we're right back to LBJ at that point, you know.

And everything that Nixon was trying to accomplish kind of backfires, doesn't it?

Yes, indeed.

It also adds fuel to the fire nationally in terms of these demonstrations.

There are other shootings on other campuses.

May 15th, Jackson State University in Mississippi has a shooting that kills two, injures 12.

Much of this was not National Guardsmen anymore.

It was local authorities, but steps were taken.

There were shootings at Cal State Fresno by police, Augusta College in Georgia.

The message was clear.

The tenor has completely changed as far as how these campuses were viewed.

I mean, part of the reason that there was such a lot of protests is that those students felt protected there, right?

In today's climate, I feel so lucky to be the age I am.

I've been born in the early 60s so that I have some perspective over that time.

I mean, the parents of these students were all people who had lots of people had taken part in World War Two.

I mean, or, you know, in the greatest generation.

Yeah.

These unified efforts nationally to fight for the national identity together.

And so whether they were from different stripes or different backgrounds, there was still a sense of a oneness of America centered, as you're talking about, that had really been profound throughout the previous decades.